A dad’s gift lives on in his son

Tony Tolbert’s dad gave others a hand up – Tony always remembers someone in the guest bedroom who needed a place to stay. So when Tony became a man and saw families struggling with homelessness, he called up a homeless shelter and asked if there was a homeless family who’d like to live in his fully furnished home, rent free, for a year.

The mother of 5 who was chosen was in tears. She’d been able to bring her smaller children with her into the shelter, but not her teen son. So not only were they homeless, but they were separated as a family. Tony Tolbert’s kind gift changed that. The family carefully moved in their few things, and Tolbert moved back in with his mother for a year – who welcomed him with open arms. Tony has a great relationship with his mom, and mom is very proud of her son. When asked how his father felt about Tony following in dad’s generous footsteps, Tony wept. Tony’s father has Alzheimers.

Tony says you don’t have to be Bill Gates to make a difference:

“Kindness creates kindness. Generosity creates generosity. Love creates love. And I think if we can share some of that and have more stories about people doing nice things for other people, and fewer stories about people doing horrible things to other people, that’s a better world.”

Tony doesn’t see what he did as a sacrifice, but the logical, practical thing to do. I didn’t blog on this story to guilt anyone into doing the same thing. But I did want to give an example of how one man used his kindness and generosity in -for him- a simple and practical way. I wonder which simple kind things we do each day might make an impact on someone around us?